In the Name of Empress-Chapter 329 - 225: Palace Prison

The City of Romance, Xidai, capital of the Jin Yuan Republic.

Once the capital of the First Empire of France and the Jin Yuan Second Empire, it boasts a long history.

It was once synonymous with romance, freedom, and prosperity.

But now it’s different, it has become a stronghold of suspicion and fear.

Sussex City is the big city most yearned for by people across the Rodinia Continent.

Although the Sussex people refer to regions like Hansa as the Three Overseas Provinces, in reality they are overseas, while Hansa is on the main continent.

Sussex City rivals Xidai in size and prosperity, yet being overseas, both its historical and current status is slightly inferior to that of Xidai, the capital of the Jin Yuan Republic.

The Jin Yuan Great Plain is also the richest plain, with several rivers, including the West River, that span thousands of kilometers, washing down some of the best land on the Rodinia Continent.

Farming here, there is no worry about natural disasters, nor irrigation issues.

Even in 1792 when there was famine everywhere, the Jin Yuan Republic was relatively unconcerned about food shortages; they even used many fertile lands to grow grapes and barley for winemaking.

In past years, they were more willing to turn surplus grain into fine wine sold worldwide, but this year is different.

When others lack food, but I have it, it becomes not just grain, but gold.

The Republic underwent great unrest last year, which hurt the national strength and caused severe military infighting.

Even so, they still have hundreds of thousands of well-trained standing troops and can mobilize over a million soldiers at any time.

Even the Sussex Empire, claiming to have the strongest comprehensive power, and the Vladimir Empire, with the strongest land army, do not dare to recklessly invade Jin Yuan.

As long as they catch their breath, they can regain their top great power demeanor.

However, the Jin Yuan people have recently found it difficult to breathe, unable to catch any breath.

President Marco’s governance is too strict.

His policies are like a noose, tightening bit by bit around everyone’s neck, making it hard to breathe.

A few days ago, he issued a new act.

Organizing group activities of more than ten people without prior approval will be considered treasonous and subject to arrest and investigation.

This includes normal activities like concerts, opera performances, and poetry gatherings.

Everyone was astonished.

Is this a policy that humans can create?

Such stringent personnel control policies are only formulated during wartime.

But it’s not wartime now!

People remained silent for a long time. Someone suddenly had a great idea.

If everyone is breaking the law, then no one is breaking the law. The idea of not blaming many people has a huge appeal in this era.

Thus, the best opera house in Jin Yuan organized a grand performance, inviting the best opera actors to perform the classic play "Song of the Jin Yuan."

This song praised the stories of early Jin Yuan people resisting the brutal rule of the Magic Empire, spreading the ideas of equality, freedom, and fraternity, considered the soul of the Jin Yuan people.

This is a series of operas, with the most popular one being the second act, Freedom.

The performance venue was not in the opera house, but in the square. Tens of thousands gathered at Triumph Square, matching the scale of Sif’s performance at Monarch Square back in the day.

Although these opera actors had singing skills rivaling Sif, the result of their performance was completely different.

Sif’s songs evoked nostalgia for the Emperor among the Old Sussex people.

The actors from the West City Opera Troupe awakened the Jin Yuan people’s thirst for freedom.

Soon, the White Hat Military Police arrived.

Their helmets, of poor quality and slightly white, earned them the contemptuous nickname "White Hats" among the Jin Yuan people.

They were faithful henchmen of Marco and the Yayue Faction, completely loyal to Marco, very brutal.

The crowd held their heads high.

They didn’t believe the Military Police could arrest them all.

They were numerous, nearly eighty thousand of them!

But they were wrong.

Marco decided to make an example.

Even if this "chicken" was as big as their ancestral dinosaur, it doesn’t matter—they would still arrest it.

Tens of thousands of Military Police surrounded the square, driving women and children out, taking all displeased adult men and teenagers away.

No one knew how many people were arrested that day.

But the most conservative estimate was over ten thousand.

People were stunned.

The Jin Yuan Kingdom, vast as it was, did not have a prison that could hold over ten thousand people.

This could stump ordinary people, but Marco was no ordinary person.

No prison? Simple. They could use the run-down castle of the last emperor of the Jin Yuan Second Empire!

What to do with the dilapidated castle?

These prisoners are ready-made labor, right?

Make them work hard, laboring sixteen hours a day! Sixteen hours isn’t Marco’s conscience limit; it’s the limit of human physical endurance.

Under Marco’s ruthless drive and the Military Police’s whip persuasion, at least twenty thousand Citizens of Xidai were arrested for watching an opera performance, starting forced labor.

This prison was named Palace Prison.

Marco was very pleased with the prison expansion blueprint, praising it as an impregnable, fortress-like place of confinement.

The harsh labor and poor living conditions caused many to die during construction.

Every day, dozens of bodies were carried away.

Initially, there were people to collect the bodies, but eventually, realizing the inefficiency, they simply brought in a group of trained spotted hyenas to dispose of the corpses.

These creatures had excellent teeth, professional bone gnawers.

On the hellish construction site, wails were heard everywhere.

It took only two and a half months to complete the reconstruction of Palace Prison.

Designed to hold thirty thousand people, the prison felt somewhat empty; after all, even the designer Marco hadn’t expected three thousand deaths during construction.

Seeing the designed prison filled with only half its capacity, Marco was dissatisfied.

He continued to search for prisoners, sending more people into Palace Prison.

Palace Prison, capable of housing thirty thousand, now held as many as forty thousand.

Moreover, he had his eye on the site of the old Rose Palace outside the city, planning to build a second Palace Prison there.

Everyone thought Marco was ill, suffering from a mental disease. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

But Marco was clear-minded; he was not sick, the world was, the country was.

The Jin Yuan Republic was seriously ill.

The last revolution hadn’t thoroughly eradicated the old nobility, allowing many nobles to transform into high-ranking officials.

An incomplete revolution is equivalent to no revolution.

This was Marco’s belief.

Due to this ideological conflict, he launched a coup, killed Carlo (Alina’s father), legally eliminated several close allies, sent tens of thousands to prison, and created the largest number of political prisoners in the world.

Standing at the edge of the highest terrace of the President’s Mansion, his gaze could encompass the entire city.

He looked towards Palace Prison, his eyes cold.

The inmates here were all enemies, all products of an incomplete revolution.

He wanted to use a fiercely burning flame to destroy the old world!

Hold on, what’s happening over at Palace Prison?

Flames rose into the sky, the sound of explosions came through, the wind carried the cries of people, though they were indistinct.

Someone was attacking Palace Prison?!

Marco was furious, loudly calling for his secretary.

Soon, his secretary came over, looking worried.

"President, what are your orders?"

"Go see what they’re doing, what slogans they’re shouting?"

A quarter of an hour later, the secretary returned with a grim expression.

He recounted the dire situation of Palace Prison being besieged and whispered:

"They’re saying... revolution."